Turkish authorities seek 695 arrests over alleged links to US-based cleric Gulen

Turkish prosecutors have issued detention warrants against 695 people suspected of alleged links to the US-based Muslim cleric blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt in 2016.

According to an Anadolu report on Tuesday, prosecutors were seeking the arrests of 467 people suspected of cheating in a police promotion examination in 2009. Warrants were also issued against 157 military officers – 101 of them still on active duty – and 71 Justice Ministry personnel.

Since the attempted coup on July 15, 2016, some 77,000 people have been arrested and around 130,000 others, including military personnel, have been dismissed from state jobs in a crackdown on Fethullah Gulen’s network, AP said.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, denies involvement in the coup attempt.